We like to call this our ‘Friday night’ burger – it’s our simple and easy to prepare go-to burger after a long week, when all we want to do is get into our jammies, curl up on the front porch under blankets and relax while chatting about the week we’ve had. Although let’s face it, because it’s us, we’ve spent 90% of that week in each others presence. We’ve had this tradition for years except we normally enjoy a good ol’ beef burger. But shhh…we’ve cheating on our old recipe and we must tell you…it feels good.

Directions:
1. ₁Start by preheating your grill to medium high heat for 10-15 minutes. In a small bowl, combine the oats and buttermilk, and stir. Allow oats to soak up all the buttermilk for about 5 minutes.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, add oat mixture to ground turkey, along with the breadcrumbs, egg, Worcestershire sauce, and all spices.
3. ₂Form into 8 very thin patties, and place patties on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Place cookie sheet in the freezer for 15-20 minutes.
4. In a small bowl, combine mayo with mustard, honey and pepper, and allow the flavors to meld in the fridge until serving.
5. Cook tater tots according to package instructions. Set aside for serving.
6. Brush onion slices with olive oil. Remove patties from freezer, and grill for approximately 4 minutes a side, flipping once, until an internal temperature of 165 degrees F is reached. Place cheese on four of the patties, and top with the remaining patties. Set aside to rest, uncovered.
7. To plate the burgers, start by toasting the buns on the grill. Spread a little of the mayo on the bottom bun, followed by a crisp piece of green leaf lettuce. Then goes the burgers, the grilled onions, the tater tots, and even more of that luscious mayo. Top with the top of the bun and get ready to be in burger heaven!

Maddie & Kiki’s Pro Grilling Tips:
₁This may be the most important step to grilling! So many people skip this step, or don’t let it preheat long enough. This single step is what heats up the grill grates and allows the food to be flipped without sticking. DON’T RUSH THE PREHEAT!
₂This is such an easy BBQ hack! These double cheeseburgers are nice and thin to be able to be stacked up with oozy cheese in the middle (um…YUM!), so sticking them in the freezer makes for fool-proof grill flipping!

1. ₁Start by preheating your grill to medium high heat for 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine all rub spices. Brush turkey breasts with olive oil and sprinkle the breasts liberally with the spice mixture. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl, mix all ingredients for the honey mustard mayo. Set aside in the refrigerator for the flavors to meld, until ready to serve.
3. ₂Grill turkey breasts over direct heat, for 10 minutes per side, rotating each breast 90 degrees after 5 minutes to get the perfect cross-hatch grill marks. Flip, and repeat on the other side. Move each breast to indirect heat, and continue cooking until an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove from grill, and let rest, partially covered with aluminum foil for 10 minutes.
4. Grill the turkey bacon over direct heat for 2-3 minutes per side. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly before assembling the sandwich.
5. To assemble, start with a toasted piece of bread on the bottom, smear on some of the mayo, followed by a piece of lettuce. Then layer on some avocado, a slice of cheese, and another toasted piece of bread. Top with another layer of lettuce,

Maddie & Kiki’s Pro Grilling Tips:
₁This may be the most important step to grilling! So many people skip this step, or don’t let it preheat long enough. This single step is what heats up the grill grates and allows the food to be flipped without sticking. DON’T RUSH THE PREHEAT!
₂While grill marks are the first thing we see when we look at a grilled piece of meat, they provide more than just visual appeal. The Maillard Reaction is a chemical reaction between an amino acid and a reducing sugar, requiring the addition of heat over 285 degrees Fahrenheit. Many of us are familiar with this reaction when we brown foods – i.e. grilling meat. So not only do grill marks look appetizing, they contribute to the overall flavor of the meat too. Darker grill marks = more flavour. No wonder barbecuing is such a popular way of cooking! Feel free to pull that fact out at your next backyard BBQ and get ready to have your guests ooh and awe at how smart you are!

Directions:
1. ₁Start by preheating your grill to medium high heat for 10-15 minutes. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the turkey, with all other ingredients. Form into 4 balls and press each ball around a skewer. The beauty of kofta kebabs is that they don’t have to be perfect. Just form the meat around each skewer until it’s evenly distributed.
2. ₂Set the kebabs on a parchment-lined cookie sheet, and place in the freezer to firm up for 20-30 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine all ingredients for the tzatziki, except the chili pepper. Using a fine grater, grate as much of the chili pepper into the tzatziki as your tastes desire. We like it SPICY, but we’ll leave that your own discretion! Set aside for the flavors to meld. Overnight is ideal, but a couple hours will also do.
4. Grill the kebabs for 10 – 15 minutes, flipping once, until an internal temperature of 165 degrees is reached. Set aside to cool, uncovered for 10 minutes. Slide skewers out of the kebabs.
5. To serve these super easy kebabs, open a whole wheat pita, add the kebab, and top with your favourite middle eastern inspired toppings. Our suggestions: fresh tomato, cucumber, red onion, feta cheese, olives, pickled turnip more parsley and enough of the tzatziki to smother the works!

Maddie & Kiki’s Pro Grilling Tips:
₁This may be the most important step to grilling! So many people skip this step, or don’t let it preheat long enough. This single step is what heats up the grill grates and allows the food to be flipped without sticking. DON’T RUSH THE PREHEAT!
₂ This is such an easy BBQ hack! By putting the kebabs in the freezer to firm up a bit before grilling, you minimize the chances of having anything fall apart on the grill!

These sweet and savoury burgers are an homage to a simpler time. When everyone rocked a pair of bell-bottom jeans with an after-work drink in their hand – the 1970’s! Dried cherries are a modern update to the maraschino cherry classic, and their pairing with bourbon are a timeless duo for a reason – their spunky sweetness join forces with duBreton rustic ground pork and savoury spices for a crowd-pleasing burger favourite.

Directions:
1. Fill a chimney starter to the top with charcoal briquettes. Place a lighter cube below the chimney and ignite. Allow the briquettes to fully light within the chimney for 15-20 minutes.
2. In the meantime, combine all ingredients in a bowl. Using a light delicate hand, gently mix the ingredients together. Don’t ‘go to town’ on the mixture, or your patties will turn into dry little pucks and nobody wants that!
3. Form the mixture into eight equal patties and place them on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. If they aren’t the perfect shape – don’t fret! The beauty of these patties is that they’re homemade; you don’t want them to look like they’ve just left a factory conveyor belt.
4. ₁Place the cookie sheet into the freezer for 5-10 minutes to allow the patties to firm up before hitting the grill.
5. ₂Using grill gloves, pour lit briquettes into charcoal baskets and close the lid of your charcoal barbecue. Allow the grill to preheat for 15 minutes.
6. ₃Remove patties from the freezer. Cook directly over top of coals until prominent grill marks are formed (about 2-3 minutes), and then flip. Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes, and transfer patties to the outer ring of the barbecue to ensure they’re cooked throughout. Close the lid and allow the patties to continue cooking.
7. Using a probe thermometer, remove patties from the grill once an internal temperature of 72 degrees Celsius (160 degrees Fahrenheit) is reached. Allow to rest on a plate partially covered with aluminum foil.
Serving suggestions: We love to serve these burgers on a pretzel bun, with real cheddar cheese, leaf lettuce, red onion, spicy red pepper rings, and a zingy BBQ mayo!

Maddie & Kiki’s Pro BBQ Tips:
₁By allowing the patties to hang out in the freezer for a little while, they firm up and reduce the possibility of breaking apart once they hit the grill.
₂Make sure to scrape off any old remnants of food from your grill before putting new food onto the grill.
₃Allowing the grill to preheat is possibly the MOST important step to a successful BBQ cook! Hot grill grates are what allow food to be flipped without sticking. Contrary to popular belief, oiling grill gates is a completely unnecessary step, and may even lead to a grill fire. Think of the barbecue like an oven – you ALWAYS allow an oven to preheat, and the barbecue is no different.

We can remember fighting over the last piece of the age-old classic pineapple upside down cake that our Mom used to make when we were little girls. While these characteristic flavors have stood the test of time, this cornbread version combines savoury duBreton pork sausages, sharp cheddar cheese and jalapenos in a spicy update to the long-standing favourite.

Directions:
1. ₁Allow your grill to preheat over medium high heat for 10-15 minutes. Cook the sausages over direct heat until fully cooked. Remove from grill and allow to rest on a plate partially covered in aluminum foil.
2. Grease the sides of a 9-inch cast iron pan and add the melted butter. Sprinkle on the brown sugar. Arrange the pineapple rings to cover the bottom in a single layer. Cut sausages in ½ inch chunks and fill each hole in between pineapple rings with a piece of sausage. Chop any remaining sausage into small chunks and set aside.
3. In a medium sized bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Make sure that there are no lump before moving on.
4. Add the buttermilk, butter, eggs, and honey. Stir until just moistened. Do not overmix or the cornbread will be tough!
5. Fold in cheese, red onions, chopped jalapeno and remaining chopped sausage.
6. Spread the cornbread mixture over top of the cut sausages and jalapenos, being careful not to disrupt the bottom configuration.
7. ₂In a preheated 400 degree Fahrenheit (200 degrees Celsius) barbecue, grill the cornbread over indirect heat until nicely browned – approximately 20-30 minutes.
8. Let the cornbread fully cool before cutting into slices.
Serving suggestions: This cornbread is the perfect hand-held dish on the go! Wrap it in a napkin and you’ve got yourself the perfect brunch to eat on the road! Move over granola bars, we think this Grilled Sausage & Pineapple Upside Down Cake is the next breakfast trend!

Maddie & Kiki’s Pro BBQ Tips:
₁This may be the most important step when grilling! Allowing the grill is the single most step to ensure those dark, clean grill marks on your sausages. Let’s face it kids, we eat with our eyes first and grill marks are what look the best!
₂Grilling indirectly is extremely easy! All you have to do is shut off one or two of the burners on your grill, depending on how large your grill is, and keep one side lit. This will allow your dish to slowly bake without the harsh heat underneath that would otherwise cause the food to burn on the bottom.

Do you remember when every guest at your Saturday night party dunked their matching glass mug into a big bowl of fruity fun? That’s right, we’re talking about the infamous party punch bowl! We’re sure there’s many good reasons why they have faded from popularity in recent years (those things need to come with a sneeze guard!), but there’s no good reason why we can’t enjoy all the flavors of a good fruit punch, without having to dust off your Aunt Sheila’s iridescent 12-piece set.

₁Using a spoon, remove the tough membrane on the underside of the ribs. Combine all spices in a bowl. Rub the spices into the ribs, making sure to really rub the racks and cover every inch of them in spices. Set aside in the fridge for the flavors to meld for as long as you have time for (even overnight!).

In the meantime, set up your smoker according to the manufacturer’s specifications. ₂While maintaining a temperature of 225-250 degrees Fahrenheit (107-122 degrees Celsius), smoke ribs with your favourite smoking wood until an internal temperature of 190 degrees Fahrenheit (88 degrees Celsius) is reached.

Every half hour, lift the lid of the smoker, and spritz the racks with pure apple juice. This will help the meat stay juicy and add natural sugars that will work to caramelize the outside of the meat.

For the BBQ sauce: Combine all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour the contents into a saucepan and allow to come to a bubble. Reduce heat to low and simmer until thickened, approximately 20-30 minutes.

₃About an hour before you plan on taking the ribs off the smoker, brush on the BBQ sauce every 20 minutes, allowing it to reduce even further while sticking to the ribs.

Let the ribs rest for 10-15 minutes before serving.

Serving suggestions: Since these ribs are so deliciously sweet and sticky, we like to offset savoury side dishes like collards and greens, a rich mac and cheese, and buttery grilled corn.

Maddie & Kiki’s Pro BBQ Tips:
₁If you don’t remove this part of the ribs, the membrane will never break down – even with low and slow smoking. Save yourself the aggravation later and be sure to get it all off!
₂We love using peach wood for this recipe, as the flavor of the wood is complemented by the peaches in the punch bowl BBQ sauce. Pork and peaches are the bestest of friends!
₃This step is what takes the ribs to the next level! The sauce will reduce and build up on the ribs with each application. So sticky! So delightfully sticky!

M&K’s Smoked Sea Salt Christmas Cookie Dough Bars

If these aren’t the perfect bars to leave out for Santa, we don’t know what are! He thought he liked regular old cookies, until he arrived at Maddie & Kiki’s place, and then he was like, ‘Plain old cookies are so 2017!’

For the TOP layer:
1/4 cup butter
As much of the smoked sea salt as you dare to put on!
Christmas coloured candies of your choosing (we like …….)

Directions: For the morels:
1. First let’s get the salt smoking! Obviously 500g is more salt that you need for this dessert, but if you’re taking the time to smoke salt, you’re going to want to smoke a lot of it to have on standby. Trust me. It’s incredible on steaks, as a Caesar glass rimmer, in hot dips, on eggs, the list goes on! Set up your charcoal grill with a small amount of lit briquettes, beside a small amount of unlit briquettes. Place your piece of wood half on the lit side, and half on the unlit side. This will create a slow, billowy amount of beautiful white smoke to slowly smoke the salt. Place the salt in a very thin later of an aluminum pan. Place the pan indirectly on the grill. Close the lid. Let the smoke do the work. Check on the salt every now and then, stirring it once in a while if needed. Take the salt off the grill once a nice amber colour is achieved. How easy was that?!

2. For the crust: Preheat oven to 375 degrees, and grease an 11 ¾ inch x 9 3/8 inch pan, as well as lining it with parchment paper. Break the log of sugar cookie dough in half. In a bowl, mix half the dough with a few drops of red colouring and combine. Do the same in another bowl with the green colouring. Break each dough into chunks, and arrange the chunks in the bottom of the pan. Press down to create a smooth surface. Bake according to package directions, and let cool completely.

3. For the cookie dough layer: Now listen up because this layer is a little tricky. Just kidding! Combine all ingredients except chips. Stir in chips. Voila! Cookie dough! 😊 Smear this layer over the crust, and let’s move the heck on so we can get this dessert done so we can pour a glass of spiked egg nog and go put our feet up!

4. For the caramel layer: Combine caramels with Baileys in a saucepan over low heat until melted. About 5-10 minutes. Pour this over the cookie dough (don’t you wish life was as easy as these bars?! 😊) Let cool a bit before moving on.

5. For the final (and best layer): In a saucepan over low heat, stir chocolate chips with butter until melted. Pour over caramel layer. Now here’s the fun part – sprinkle on some of the smoked salt, and your Christmas coloured goodies.

We love a big ol’ wedge of this pie as a snack, lunch, side dish or even a vegetarian dinner alongside a salad! What’s great about this pie is that normally pastas with cream sauces don’t reheat that well, and we like the type of meal you can make once and eat a few times! Who’s with us!? This pie reheats wonderfully! That is, if you can let any leftovers make it to the fridge!

Directions:
Fire up your grill, and get the temperature to around 375-425 degrees.

Heat butter and olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and stir until fragrant. Add the tarragon and capers and deglaze the pan with the white wine. Reduce heat to medium low, and add the cream cheese. Stir until fully melted. .

Add the zest of a lemon, cooked fettuccine, and pasta water. It may look super watery right now, but you just don’t worry your pretty little head! It’ll turn into a masterpiece in the oven! Add the cheddar cheese and stir. Allow to cool a bit before adding the eggs. Stir thoroughly to incorporate eggs. This what’s going to hold this pie together! Top with parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, and a drizzle of olive oil.

Place on indirect heat on your BBQ, and cook until bubbly and browned – approximately half an hour to 45 minutes. Cool completely before cutting into wedges.

Directions:
In a large pot, combine all ingredients. Heat on the stove top over medium heat, stirring occasionally until salt and sugar are dissolved. Cool completely and cover Pike in a non-aluminum container (we use a big plastic container). Let the fish soak up all the goodness in the fridge overnight. Remove from brine in the morning and discard. Dry fish inside and out with paper towels.

Fire up the smoker and get it in the area of 200-300 degrees. We are going to be smoking the fish hot, and this will help us get the bones out later on!

Remove from smoker and let cool before taking your sweet time sorting through the fish for all of the (many) bones. While this is a time consuming job, the flavour of the smoked fish makes it all worth it. If you’re particularly prissy, you can go ahead and wear gloves to avoid your hands smelling like Northern Pike for hours after this activity. Personally, we don’t mind it – it gives you a little reminder of all your hard work when you’re tucked into bed later on. Alone.

If you are disgusted by the words, ‘chicken livers,’ one bite of these spicy char-grilled peri peri chicken livers will 100% change your mind. They are jam-packed with smokey grill flavour, and the spicy/sour combination of the peri peri spices and lemon juice will have you waking up in the middle of the night with thoughts of them on your mind. Okay maybe that’s a little much, but it’s happened to us! It’ll happen to you too!

Directions:
In a bowl, mix all of the peri peri spices together. Set aside. In another bowl, combine the chicken livers with the olive oil, zest and juice of a lemon, and the peri peri seasoning. Cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
Fire up the grill – we’re going to cook these livers hot and fast! Arrange your charcoal in the middle of the grill, and allow the grates to preheat – this step is very important to prevent the livers from sticking!
Using metal skewers, impale the chicken livers, making sure to not leave many dangly bits – these will just flail about on the grill and burn.
Grill for 3-4 minutes on each side, or until nicely coloured.
In a cast iron pan, add the butter and cook the onions, garlic and ginger until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Add the cooked livers and deglaze with the white wine. Add rapini and let cook for 5-10 minutes.
Add the fresh parsley, and sliced hot peppers. Serve with slices of fresh baguette.
Enjoy! Love, M&K XO

Directions:
In a small bowl, combine water and chia seeds and allow to sit for about 20 minutes, stirring every now and then. It will turn into a thick goo-like consistency and this goo is going to be key for holding the cake together!
Combine almonds, sunflower seeds and hemp hearts in a high speed blender and mill until the mixture resembles a fine powder. Be careful though because if you let it go for too long it’ll turn into almond butter!
In a large bowl, add the ‘flour,’ and all other ingredients. Whisk until smooth. Since this isn’t a ‘real’ cake, you don’t have to worry about dry ingredients, wet ingredients of over mixing! Halleluiah!
Pour into a greased cast iron skillet, and place over indirect heat in the grill. Close the lid and let it go for 35-45 minutes – until you touch the surface and it springs back a bit.
Let it cool completely before slicing. We love to top this cake with a berry compote, whipped coconut cream, or frozen yogurt! Enjoy! M&K xo
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Enjoy! Love, M&K XO

Despite our Italian heritage, this soup has grown to be one of our all-time favourites. The traditional version is bright red with red cabbage and beets, but there’s just something so stunning about a beautiful, bright, sunny yellow bowl of this soup on a frigid Canadian Winter day. Plus, if you’re looking for a stiff dose of sun, you don’t need to travel South or commit to a fake tan! Maddie & Kiki got you covered!

Directions:
In a Dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat. Add onions, carrots, celery and garlic. Cook until fragrant, about 3-5 minutes. Add the cabbage, and beets, and sauté until you start to see dark bits stick to the bottom. Add enough stock to cover the vegetables. Add the rest of the ingredients. Stir.
Place your Dutch oven over direct heat on your BBQ, without the lid. Add a couple pieces of light 9wood to your charcoal – like apple or sugar maple. This will allow the smoke flavor to touch the surface of the liquid, and give you a rich, smokey soup.
Close the lid of the BBQ, and let the soup simmer away for as long as you want. Even when the coals start to lose heat, you can go back inside and watch the BBQ do it’s thing from the window on a cold day! What’s nice about this soup is that you can even forget about it out there and it’ll just keep getting deeper and deeper flavor. Serve with a dollop of sour cream, and fresh dill.
Enjoy! Love, M&K XO